Hi guys! New member/first post. This question has been bugging me for a bit now: I'm a US citizen with dual citizenship/ancestry with Great Britain on my mother's side- does this qualify me for the TEFL job market in the EU as an American? If I can get an EU passport, I shouldn't have a problem obtaining any visas- does this make me equally as eligible for the position as someone born in the UK?
Thanks

Visa requirements are part of EU law, and a Romanian is eligible to teach English if someone will hire them.

Hiring requirements are a different matter. While some schools have a preference for one variety of English (I remember meeting an Englishman in Mexico who worked at a school that he claimed only hired English and Welshmen; not even Scots or Ulstermen, let alone Yanks or Colonials), my understanding is that this is usually not the case, at least with British vs. American English.

As for getting British citizenship, that's another matter. Are you actually a British citizen, in that you know for a fact you are eligible for a British passport? Or are you trying to figure out whether you are? If it's the latter, as I understand it, the main two cases would be if your mother is a British citizen born in Britain, or if at least one of her parents was a British citizen born in the UK, and you were also born in Britain. (Otherwise, unless you fit in with a handful of obscure cases involving the remains of the British Empire, you'd be SOL.)

What I mean to say is that most TEFL jobs require you to be a native speaker and seeing as someone from Romania is not, they wouldn't be hired. However, from what I've heard an EU employer will, in most cases, choose someone from the UK over a US citizen *every time.* What I want to know is if this is true and if my dual citizenship (my mother was born & raised in Wales) will help me overcome this obstacle to employment in the EU? Hope that helps.

What I mean to say is that most TEFL jobs require you to be a native speaker and seeing as someone from Romania is not, they wouldn't be hired. However, from what I've heard an EU employer will, in most cases, choose someone from the UK over a US citizen *every time.* What I want to know is if this is true and if my dual citizenship (my mother was born & raised in Wales) will help me overcome this obstacle to employment in the EU? Hope that helps.

Yes. If you have a British passport, then you are as eligible to work in the EU (visa-wise) as if you had been born in Britain. An American needs a work permit to work in the EU--very elusive, and VERY hard to obtain. Even if an employer can secure a work permit for an American based on superb qualifications, it will involve time, effort, and red tape. A British passport holder does not require a work permit, and so is much easier to employ. You are much more employable in the EU with your British citizenship.

What I mean to say is that most TEFL jobs require you to be a native speaker and seeing as someone from Romania is not, they wouldn't be hired. However, from what I've heard an EU employer will, in most cases, choose someone from the UK over a US citizen *every time.* What I want to know is if this is true and if my dual citizenship (my mother was born & raised in Wales) will help me overcome this obstacle to employment in the EU? Hope that helps.

IF your mother was a UK citizen at the time of your birth then you should be able to reclaim your UK citizenship and obtain a UK passport. Contact the consular section of the British embassy or British consulate nearest to you.

If she had already renounced her citizenship and taken up US citizenship by the time you were born then you are hooped.

IF you hold a UK passport then you are no different than someone born in London when it comes to work in the EU (in spite of being raised in the US).
Your US citizenship doesn't even come into play.

Can a US raised UK passport holder get a (legal) job in the EU = yes.
Your US citizenship doesn't even come into play.

Can a US citizen without a UK passport (key here is UK PASSPORT) obtain an entry level job in EFL in the EU = probably NOT because of visa issues (there are a few minor exceptions).

Xie Lin and ttompatz are right about you being eligible, I would add that it isn't quite as difficult to find work in the Former Soviet part of the E.U. although I believe that schools are getting very hesitant to sponsor visas for Americans even in this part of the world. I would also add that JUST being a British citizen doesn't qualify you for a lot of jobs. Most schools want you to have at least a B.A. and a 100+ hour on-site teaching cert. of some kind, with practice teaching. They also often ask for a year or three of experience. Get your passport, get your certification and you should be alright in Europe.

Hi guys! New member/first post. This question has been bugging me for a bit now: I'm a US citizen with dual citizenship/ancestry with Great Britain on my mother's side- does this qualify me for the TEFL job market in the EU as an American? If I can get an EU passport, I shouldn't have a problem obtaining any visas- does this make me equally as eligible for the position as someone born in the UK?
Thanks

Did your mother register your birth in the UK? Are you assuming you have dual citizenship or do you actually have the citizenship papers in your hand? With those, you can apply for a British passport. If that's not the case, you’ll definitely have to check with a British embassy/ consulate. It will depend on whether your mother has retained citizenship. If so, it looks as though you’d be eligible to claim a passport, but you may have to pay for a citizenship ceremony depending on when you were born. British laws governing citizenship are quite complex. For those born outside of Britain, it used to be that you could claim British citizenship through the father only and you had to prove you were born in the marriage (ie., you couldn’t be ‘illegitimate’). Now I think the one generation back and being born in the marriage parts still apply but British law has changed regarding British mothers conferring citizenship.

There's no question that having an EU membership passport makes all the difference in terms of legally living and working anywhere in the EU. However, how easily you'll find TEFL work is another matter, as others have pointed out.

Children born abroad to British mothers before 1983
At present there are two entirely different paths through which children of British mothers and children of British fathers born abroad before 1983 can acquire a passport. The differences also have a bearing on costs. Children of British mothers born before 1983 may require a nationality registration fee, which (as of 22 Nov 2010) is free (although they must pay £80 for a citizenship ceremony). They also must undergo a background check into their eligibility and be of "good character" and attend the citizenship ceremony.

Children born abroad after 1982 to British mothers or to British fathers before or after 1983
Those born abroad to a British father before or after 1983 or born after 1982 to a British mother need not pay any nationality registration fees, undergo a good character check, or attend a civil ceremony as they are considered automatically British and can apply for a passport directly through the Identity and Passport Services (IPS). Again, this only applies if your parents have been married or marry.
This difference in application for a passport and also nationality has been criticised by the National Council for Civil Liberties and CAMPAIGNS on the basis of alleged discrimination on the basis of age and gender based on descent through a mother or a father.

Hi guys! New member/first post. This question has been bugging me for a bit now: I'm a US citizen with dual citizenship/ancestry with Great Britain on my mother's side- does this qualify me for the TEFL job market in the EU as an American? If I can get an EU passport, I shouldn't have a problem obtaining any visas- does this make me equally as eligible for the position as someone born in the UK?
Thanks

If you have a British passport, you can apply for work as an EU citizen. You do not need work permits at all.

Children born abroad after 1982 to British mothers or to British fathers before or after 1983
Those born abroad to a British father before or after 1983 or born after 1982 to a British mother need not pay any nationality registration fees, undergo a good character check, or attend a civil ceremony as they are considered automatically British and can apply for a passport directly through the Identity and Passport Services (IPS). Again, this only applies if your parents have been married or marry.
This difference in application for a passport and also nationality has been criticised by the National Council for Civil Liberties and CAMPAIGNS on the basis of alleged discrimination on the basis of age and gender based on descent through a mother or a father.

Thank you. This and all of the responses have really cleared this up for me, & it seems I qualify as mother was a British citizen when she had me and only naturalized in the US 5 years ago... In 3 months I'll have both a B.A. and a 100+ hour TEFL Certificate, among other qualifications. If it's experience I need, then maybe the EU is just a bit further down the road. I'll be contacting the nearest British consulate soon!